artist bio

b.1980

Jonathan was born in Fairfax, Virginia and developed a deep love and appreciation for the natural world as he spent most of his time outdoors and in the woods. One of his earliest childhood memories was finding a small crab apple and attempting to fit multiple twigs in it to create what he knows now was a sculptural assemblage. Playing in the creeks he was always consumed with finding Native American arrowheads from tribes that used to live in the area. He never found one but this “search” for the elusive has never stopped.

When he was 8 his family moved to China. This strange and exotic world of foreign sights and sounds engulfed all his senses and he gladly surrendered. Beijing became his long time playground of 10 years where there was endless exploration of art, culture and language. His favorite places to go were antique markets and the bird and fish market. These were the two spaces that influenced his aesthetic lexicon the most. There were everything from exotic songbirds to singing crickets in tiny ornate cages adorned with elaborate carving. The colors, textures and forms at the antique markets along with the historical and cultural mystique really was a type of dopamine for him and still is to this day. China was a place where his hunger for learning and discovery was always fed and the sense of adventure was consistently present. This 14 year cross cultural experience was massively instrumental in forming his own visual lexicon and continues to affect his use of pictorial language.

It was in Beijing where Jonathan had the golden opportunity to study art under a very well-respected art professor from the Central Academy of Fine Art. Professor Yang ZhenWu was taught by Russian masters when he was a young man so the tutelage Jonathan received was very much in the classical vein. Learning to draw realistically was a of paramount importance. His art lessons would last anywhere from 3-6 hours at a time! This grueling routine established a solid foundation of being able to represent the natural world very accurately. This solid foundation has given him a very robust launching pad for his artistic endeavors. Although his schooling focused on realism Jonathan is more interested in the abstract qualities of art and nature. The subconscious is the space now that he chooses to explore most often. This is a defining element of his artistic process…the idea of embracing mystery and the unknown. He likes to refer to it as internal spelunking. Fascinated with the metaphysical world and the idea of the infinite being accessible he ventures into the vast unknown every time he creates. Jonathan says “its so important to me to engage the space of creativity with a childlike and playful nature. I don’t want to sacrifice joy for my desired outcome. I find when I let go I discover way more beauty than I ever anticipated.”

Currently Jonathan lives in Virgina Beach with his beautiful wife, their four lovely children and one very ridiculous parakeet.